Fate of de Blasio housing affordability tiers in doubt after council hearing

The de Blasio administration and City Council members wrestled to a standstill over the mayor's proposal to boost affordable-housing Tuesday, with council members pushing for more units for the poor and the administration insisting it cannot budge.

At a hearing at City Hall, nearly a dozen council members said the plan's affordable apartments would still be out of reach for many of their constituents. Under the administration's lower-income plan, developers would take on tenants whose incomes average out to 60% of the area median income, or $46,620 for a family of three.

"We want to make sure that everyone in our neighborhood has an opportunity to apply for this housing," said Councilwoman Margaret Chin, D-Manhattan.

Council members Vanessa Gibson, D-Bronx, and Mark Levine, D-Manhattan, voiced concerns about constituents with incomes in the $20,000 range.

But the administration largely rebuffed those concerns, saying other subsidies from the city's Housing Department would be layered on top of the zoning plan to create deeper affordability on a case-by-case basis.

"We are pushing as far as we can, legally and practically," said Department of Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Vicki Been, alluding to the concern that developers will challenge the mandate in court if it cuts too deeply into their bottom line.

"If we push too far, we get zero housing," she added.

Rather than defend the plan's capacity to create low-income units, Been and Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen portrayed it as primarily aimed at creating middle- and moderate-income housing.

Several council members took issue with the inclusion of a so-called workforce option that would allow developers to build affordable units for those making an average of 120% of area median income.

Councilman Antonio Reynoso, D-Brooklyn, called for rezoned industrial areas to require 100% affordable housing, an idea Glen did not seem to accept. Councilman Daniel Garodnick, D-Manhattan, also said the administration should close what he called "a pretty big loophole" that would allow the Board of Standards and Appeals to exempt projects from the requirements.

Of all the council's issues, only its objections to rules allowing developers to build offsite got much traction with the housing triumvirate testifying, which also included City Planning Commissioner Carl Weisbrod.

"We are willing to discuss the whole offsite question," Been said.

Just before the hearing Tuesday, a coalition of business, labor, civic and religious leaders launched a campaign to support the administration's effort.

Crain’s New York Business is the trusted voice of the New York business community—connecting businesses across the five boroughs by providing analysis and opinion on how to navigate New York’s complex business and political landscape.